Feed gauge for printing presses



E. L. MEGILL.

FEED GAUGE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1918.

. I v 41 Patented MW 16, 1922.

30 may EDWARD L. MEGILL, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

FEED GAUGE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

Application filed. March 19, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, EDWARD L. MEGILL, a

.citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Gauges for Printing Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in what are commonly called feed gauges for use on printing presses, and whlch are secured to the tympan sheets on the platen of the press to serve as stops or rests, locating the position of the sheets to be printed, so that they may be properly presented to the type. I have in mind particularly the sort of gauges in which there is one part that is inserted through a slit in the tympan sheet, and lies below this sheet, and another part connected to the first part, which overlies the tympan sheet, the sheet being gripped between these two parts.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a gauge of the general. type referred toin which the under or clamping plate, and the upper or gauge plate may be adjusted one to the other, after which a connecting member between the two plates is manipulated to fix the adjustment between the parts and at the same time clamp the tyinpan sheet between them.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in connection with gauges which have a base or clamping plate insertable under the tympan sheet, an arrangement of parts such that a portion of the base plate after its insertion through the slit of the tympan, may be brought to position beneath portions of the sheet on both sides of the slit.

Another object is to provide a device of the kind described for use in connection with a tympan sheet having a slit at right angles to the feed line, the device having a face plate with a forwardly extending prong portion which is adapted to be pushed through the slit in a direction parallel to the feed line, and then turned to position under the tympan sheet so that it is perpendicular to the feed line and under both sides of the slit.

Still another object is to provide an upper or gauge plate carrying a slidably adjustable tongue which extends through a portion of the plate to one side of the gauge Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1922.

Serial No. 223,342.

head proper, so that the gauge head proper presents asubstantially unbroken surface.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less broad than those stated above, together with the advantages inherent, will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts, and applications of principles constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will appear from the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this specification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a plan view of the gauge embodying my invention showin it as applied in use; Figure 2 is an edge view of the same; ure 3 is a plan view of the upper or gauge plate, with the tongue removed; Figure 1} is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a plan view illustrating the under or clamping plate after it has been inserted into the slit in the tympan and brought to its proper position relatively to the feed line, those parts of the clamping plate which are beneath the tympan being shown in dotted lines; Figure 6 is an edge view of the clamping plate; Figures 7 and 8 are views, in section and top plan respectively, of the clamping nut by means of which the upper and lower gauge members are brought together to clamp the tympan sheet between them and Figure 9 is a fragmentary view, in general similar to Figure 1 but showing one of the extreme relative positions of the upper and lower plates illustrating how the prong portion of the under plate extends forwardly of the gauge head whereby the prong may be readily inserted into the slit of the ty'mpan. I

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, there is indicated atlO a tympan sheet, which as indicated in Figure 5 is to be provided with a slit 11 at right angles to the line of feed. In the ordinary gauge in which there is an under plate to be inserted be- 6 neath the tympan, the tympan is provided with a slit parallel to the feed line, the feed line being indicated at 12. The under or clamping plate of my new Igauge is best shown in Figures 5 and 6. t is of course generally Hat, and in the form illustrated is provided with an upstanding threaded stud 14: for connection with the upper or gauge plate. This stud is located about medially of the body portion of the under plate, and the plate has a forward reduced extension 15 in the plane of the body of the plate, which terminates in an end 16 which approaches the median line of the body of the plate. This under plate is further provided with a pair of parallel upstanding lugs 17 on the opposite edge of the plate from the extension 15, saidlugs being defined by cutting a slit in the edge of the plate and then bending up the slit edges parallel with each other and perpendicular to the plane of the plate. In Figure 3 I have shown the'upper or gauge plate, which comprises a generally oblong piece of metal, provided with a rather wide longitudinal slot 18. This slot is wide enough so that its edges will snugly fit over the opposite walls of the lugs 17 of the lower plate, and sot hat if the upper or gauge plate is moved slidably with reference to the under or gauge plate, relative sliding movement between the two plates will be guided by the lugs '17 contacting with the edges ofthe slot 18. The forward end of the upper or gauge plate is indicated at 19, and the rear end at 20, and the relative sizes of parts, and the approach of ,the'end of the slot 18 to-the forward end 19 of the upper plate are such that with the upper plate mounted on the lower plate the two plates may be rela tively moved to an extent sufficient to allow the end 16 of the extension 15 of the under plate to project forwardly beyond the end 19 ofthe upper plate, as indicated in Figure 9. The purpose of this particular relation is that the under plate may be readily entered into the slit 11 of the tympan and passed beneath the tympan sheet to one side of said slit; this of course would not be so easy to do if the end 16 could not be made to project inthe manner shown in Figure-9.

The two plates are held in desired relation by means of a thumb nut 21 shown in Figures 7 and 8, which is tightened down on the threaded stud 14 after the gauge plate has been placed in position on the bottom plate, sutliciently to, holdthe parts together, but without interfering with their relative sliding movements. After the two plates have been adjusted to each other as desired, and assuming that the under or clamping plate has been entered into the slit of the tympanas shown in Figure 5, it will be obvious that when the nut 21 is tightened down on the threaded stud 14-, thatpart of the tympan sheet to the left of the slit 11 will be gripped between the-upperplate and the lower plate above and below that part of the-tympan sheet respectively, the inner end of the clamping-nut 21 being of course sufficiently wide to bear against the upper surface of the gauge plate at either side of the slot 18; so that the two plates will be held immovable with respect to each other and the device as a whole will be held in fixed relation to the tympan.

It will lie-understood that in use the nut 21Vis never entirely backed ofi' of the stud 1 1, but merelyloosened, and that the device in puttingit in place, is picked up between the thumb and finger of the right hand to the rear-of the nut 21 (at the top of Figure 2), and with the two plates in the relative positions indicated in Figure 9. Then with a natural motion the end 16 of the under plate is entered into the slit 11, and the device given a turn suliicient to bring it to the Fig ure 5 position, that is with the left hand lug 17 in line with the left hand edge of the slit 1.1. Thereupon, the bottom plate may be left in its position relatively to the feed line and the top or gauge plate moved forward or backward on the bottom plate; or the bottom plate may be moved forward or backward relatively of the feed line while the top plate is held in position relatively to the bottom plate, or both plates may be moved relatively to the feed line'and to each other. It will be apparent that since the slit 11 is perpendicular to the feed line and since the lug 17, when the device is properly positioned, is held in line with the slit 11 and consequently perpendicular to the feed line, the upper plate, guided and restrained as it is by the parallel lugs 17, will also be and travel in a line perpendicular to the feed line. The forward end '19 of the upper plate is provided with a gauge head 24:, which is perpendicular to the general plane of the upper plate, and which is joined to the forward end of the upperplate by'nieans of a horizontal portion 25 atthe upper end of the head 24:, which horizontal portion-25 merges in a vertical portion 26 bent upwardly from the body of the upper plate. The gauge head 241- is substantially unbroken, but at one side thereof, the right in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 9, the gauge head is entirely cut awaywhile the vertical connecting portion 26 is provided with an opening 27, defined at the bottomby the forward end of the plate and at the top by that portion of the connecting member 26 which is located to the right of the gauge head 21 (indicated by the reference character 28 in Figures 1, 3 and 9). Through this opening 27 extends a slidably adjusting tongue 80, and the rear end 20 of the upper plate is provided with a pair of lugs 31, upstanding from the body of the plate and slightly bent towards each other, so as to restrain and guide one end of the tongue 80 (Figure 1), the other endrof which tongue is accommodated in the opening 27. It will be apparent that if the tongue 30 be slightly bowed, as indicated in Figure 2, the rear end being held down by the lugs 81, the forward end will tend to rise up against the bridge 28.

It will be apparent that in cases where it is not desired to have the end 16 of the bottom plate, in the final adjustment of the parts, extend forwardly of the feed line, the end 16 may readily be moved back of the feed line, as in Figure 5, and the gauge head moved forward to the feed line. The device therefore is easily inserted beneath the tympan (Figure 9) and at the same time the forward projection of the end 16 which is the reason for such ready insertion, is eliminated by adjustment after the insertion is accomplished so that there is no interference by the end 16 with the type in front of the feed line, it being understood that the gauge head 24 is in all cases brought squarely up to the feed line. The left hand lug 17 aids in properly lining up the device after its insertion into the slit of the tympan sheet, and because it provides a broad flat bearing for the left hand edge of the slit 11, tearing of the edge of the slit is avoided. Preferably the rear end of the upper plate is bent downwardly from the general plane of the plate, that is in the opposite direction from the gauge head 24, the result of this arrangement being that there is a tendencyto force the gauge head 24 down against the tympan, so that there is no tendency for the sheet being printed to be inadvertently slipped beneath the gauge head. and so that the gauge head acts in all cases as an effective stop for the sheet being printed.

Inasmuch as many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. The combination of a tympan sheet having an elongated slit therein, of a gauge comprising a head and a base member secured together, a portion of said base member adapted to be inserted within the slit in the tympan sheet at a right angle thereto then turned therein to position said inserted portion across the slit.

2. The combination of a tympan sheet having an elongatedslit therein, of a gauge comprising a head and a base member adjustably secured together, said base member having an extended finger portion adapted for insertion within the elongated slit to position the same to the underside of the sheet and across the opening therein.

8. The combination of a tympan sheet having an elongated slit therein, of a gauge comprising a head and a base member adjustably secured together, said base member having a finger portion extending from one side thereof and within the plane of same and terminating substantially on the central axis thereof, said finger portion adapted for insertion within the elongated slit to position the same to the underside of the sheet with the terminal end of the finger across the slit.

a. The combination of a tympan sheet having an elongated slit therein, of a gauge comprising a head and a base member adjustably connected together, a portion of said base member adapted to be inserted transversely into the elongated slit then axially turned therein to position said inserted portion across the slit.

5. The combination of a tympan sheet having an elongated slit therein, of a gauge comprising a head and a base member adjustably connected together, a portion of said base member adapted to be inserted transversely into the elongated slit then axially turned therein to position said inserted portion across the slit and means for limiting the axial movement of the base member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my si nature.

EDWARD L. ME ILL. 

